People

From NAMM 2026: Avid’s Sam Butler and Joe Plazak on Sibelius’s development philosophy, how user feedback shapes priorities, where users should feel progress since last year, plus automation/AI, cross-platform realities, and Avid’s long-term commitment.

From NAMM 2026: Fender’s Chris Swaffer on Notion, what the Fender name signals, refinement and cross-platform consistency, under-the-radar improvements, accessibility, Studio Pro interoperability, and intelligent assistance in service of musicians.

From NAMM 2026: Sebastian Murgul of klang.io on why AI transcription is finally practical, where the hardest musical problems remain, how accuracy earns musicians’ trust, plus MusicXML/MIDI interoperability and real-world use cases.

From NAMM 2026: Steinberg’s John Barron on Dorico’s current development phase, guiding design principles, where users should feel progress since last year, under-the-radar features, playback realism, workflow interoperability, and automation in service of notation.